10 Slack Channels Worth Joining for a Startup CEO

Building, running, launching a startup, you need all the help you can get. Being part of communities where you can connect with people who can give you guidance, feedback, and support is an invaluable resource. Bar the usual networking events and meetups, you can meet like-minded people just by being active on Slack.

Primarily a messaging app for workplace collaboration, Slack has now grown to become a popular platform for building communities.

Standuply, a company that made a Slack bot app for automated standup meetings, compiled this year a list of 1000 Slack groups and communities. You can easily lose yourself exploring convos as you can be a part of multiple communities and can easily switch among them as you want. Here’s our pick of ten Slack channels worth joining for a Startup CEO.

The ultimate Slack channel for startups, #startup or Startup Chat is an initiative run by the Startup Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation by founders, for founders. With over 6,700 members on Slack worldwide, #startup features lively discussions among entrepreneurs and anyone interested with startups and entrepreneurship. Apply to join with a quick intro and reason why you’d be a great fit for the community. Paid access: $29 one-time entry fee.

Another great startup community on Slack with over 7,800 members. Startup Study Group is a growing community of investors, startup founders, mentors, and future founders. Its goal is to help members think as an innovative entrepreneur and learn “startup as a second language”.

Created back in 2006, #Launch is one of the largest Slack communities at over 8,000 members and counting. If you want to collaborate, discuss new products, get feedback, or find a co-founder, #Launch is your go-to channel.

The first women-only community of female founders on Slack. #FemaleFounders provides the much-needed space for women entrepreneurs in a largely male dominated tech industry. Paid-access: $30 one time entry fee.

One of the largest Slack communities for the London tech scene with over 5,000 members. Connects the tech and startup investors and founders with design agencies, marketers, and freelancers. Paid access: £1 entry fee.

With just over 500 members, Focus Asia is a valuable Slack channel. It connects you to professionals from the tech/startup scene in Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, and more. If you want to keep up with who’s who and what’s happening and upcoming in Asia’s hottest tech scenes, it pays to join this channel. Paid access: $49 one time entry fee.

While the majority of Slack channels are founded by US and western tech communities, Founded X is a community uncovering local startup scenes worldwide. As such it highlights the unique aspects of starting a business proud of its local roots. Founded X features Slack channels on startup communities from countries like Tunisia, Romania, Macedonia, and more.

With just over 200 members, Founders & Creators is an invite only group of founders, entrepreneurs, and growth marketers. A pretty select channel with a mission to help 10,000 early-stage tech startups and solo founders achieve 10x growth by 2020. Free to join with paid access for VIP channel at $30 per month.

For startup founders with a background in development, #TechMasters is worth checking out. With over 3,000 members, it’s a community tying a diverse group of technologists, entrepreneurs, and developers around the world. Need help with programming problems, or want to discuss your startup goals and the new skills you want to learn? This is the Slack channel for that.